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What kind of control does the Delhi government have over the Delhi Police? I just read an NDTV news report that a Delhi MP slapped a police officer in uniform in front of a crowd:

Was Pushed, Says BJP's Manoj Tiwari, Seen Punching Cops At Signature Bridge Opening

The Signature Bridge got approval in 1997 after a school bus fell off the narrow Wazirabad bridge into the Yamuna. Twenty-two children were killed in the accident.

Delhi | Edited by Anindita Sanyal | Updated: November 05, 2018 00:21 IST

The opening of Delhi's brand new "Signature Bridge", three days before Diwali, was expected to be a festive event complete with a laser show. But it got off to a chaotic start this evening as BJP's Manoj Tiwari, refused entry, came to blows with the police. On live television, the Delhi BJP chief was seen throwing punches at the policemen - even hitting one of them on the face - till he was overpowered and escorted out...

...and yet no action has been taken over him. Do the police have the power to initiate proceedings against MP's in Delhi?

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  • Isn't this a question about the immunity of MP's ? It's fairly common for MP's to have some limited immunity to persecution, to prevent the government from silencing minority parties by making political arrests. That's not a matter of "police autonomy".
    – MSalters
    Nov 5, 2018 at 11:49
  • I was referring to the ability of MPs to interfere in the working of the police.
    – Niteesh Shanbog
    Nov 5, 2018 at 11:54
  • The article itself seems a bit vague as to whether the initiator of the violence was the MP or the police themselves. (Perhaps India is different, but in the US it would be highly improbable for an official to initiate a brawl with on-duty police, but it would unfortunately be less unusual for police to falsely claim or incorrectly imagine that they were victims of an unprovoked attack.)
    – agc
    Nov 5, 2018 at 12:28
  • It is all on tape. The MP came uninvited to a function, and when he was denied entry, he, along with his supporters started a brawl. The police who were just doing their duty was at the receiving end. And, in India, unfortunately, the police are just seen as lesser beings by the political class.
    – Niteesh Shanbog
    Nov 5, 2018 at 12:31
  • 3
    Be careful!.
    – user23270
    Nov 6, 2018 at 23:01

1 Answer 1

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What kind of control does the Delhi government have over the Delhi Police?

Absolutely none. Constitution of India (Amendment 69th) debars the jurisdiction of Legislative Assembly (cl. 3(a)) and Executive (cl. 4) of National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT Delhi) over the subject matters Public order and Police (Items 1 and 2 in State List, Seventh Schedule of the Constitution) et al.

NCT Delhi is a Union Territory and all the subject matters related to Union List, State List and Concurrent List can be legislated and acted upon by the Parliament and Union Executive exclusively. The Police and Public order in NCT Delhi is the direct responsibility of Union Government (Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)), and of which Union Executive is currently occupied by the same party from which the concerned MP politically belongs to.

[Does] the [Police] have the power to initiate proceedings against [MPs] in Delhi?

An MP in India is not immune from criminal proceedings against him (page 262), though the process is somewhat tedious. While no arrests can be made within the precincts of the House (both the Houses of Parliament) when it is functioning, the permission of the Chairperson of the House concerned (Speaker, in case of Lok Sabha) is mandatory for making arrests.

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